CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: OrangeAfroMan on February 10, 2018, 12:00:01 PM
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What were you as an high school (or beyond) athlete?
I was a 5'10", 240 lb left tackle. Better pass-blocker than run-blocker. Only started my SR year. My JR year, i was the backup all both guard and tackle positions (4 total). We had plenty of 6'2" guys along the line my SR year, but I was the LT because I didn't give up sacks and I didn't hold.
My HS was 5A in FL. 6A was the highest (it's all different now). We got to the playoffs both years I was on varsity and lost in the 1st round both years to Jacksonville Ed White HS. They were good.
The only college mail I got for football was Division II and III schools, most of which I'd never heard of. My granny asked me back then why I didn't try to play at Florida. I explained that the current guy playing LT for the Gators was 6'8", 340 (Max Starks - played for the Steelers for a long time). That helped her understand why football at Florida wasn't going to happen, lol.
What about you guys?
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Didn't play HS sports except for the varsity letter I earned in Chess. Stopped playing football after 8th grade.
Did martial arts (hapkido) from the age of 11 through high school. Got my 1st dan black belt around the end of my sophomore year of HS and my 2nd dan right before the end of senior year.
Had I stuck with football, I might have had a future. I was never all that fast, but I graduated HS at 6'4" and a lean 225#, and that was without weight training. I could have carried a lot more on my frame.
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Heh, already touched in this in the other thread, which may have prompted this one. I played both bballs, was decent enough. I'm 6'4" and weighed about 175 in high school. It turns out I can run a bit also, but I didn't know it at the time until someone had us running wind sprints one day as seniors "for fun".
The football coach wanted me to play tight end for him and I declined. That team went 0-10-1 that year without me. They are not a powerhouse in Georgia HS football each year.
My singular event was to be the winning pitcher as a sophomore in the 8-AAA baseball regional final in 1970. Our coach, who was a dope, had me start the first game next season in 35°F weather and I burned out my rotator cuff. I had no idea what happened at the time, I just couldn't raise my arm above shoulder level for months. So, he put me in left field.
Yay. I've been in left field since.
I go to the Braves' baseball fantasy camp now at the ripe old age of 60-something and still do decently well against the 30 year olds. That is a blast.
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HS football was how I got the nickname, Fearless
about 5'2 98 lbs as a freshman, loved football, I have a short achilles tendon on my left leg (no wheels) can't jump or ruan worth a dern.
so coaches put me at left guard offense and middle LB defense
playing in small school 11 man football Iowa in the late 70s - 53 in my graduating class
never started, quit after my jr season to work, younger guys behind me were bigger and stronger
best story is how I got the nickname, Fearless Phil
during two a days as a freshman I was the smallest kid on the roster, upperclassmen and assistant coaches were taking wagers on when I would quit. (I found out about this tears later, maybe as a junior or senior)
as the practices passed and I kept coming back, the upperclassmen would hit me harder and harder to insure I wouldn't return for the nest practice. possibly some hazing and abuse. (I'm not complaining) I wouldn't quit. Many of my fellow freshmen did.
in the end, the upperclassmen named me fearless. The name evolved from there.
I have no regrets.
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Don't be shy with those Minor League Baseball photos, CIncy.
Myself, I played a year of JV Soccer before assuming my rightful position as a spectator in the grandstands.
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I go to the Braves' baseball fantasy camp now at the ripe old age of 60-something and still do decently well against the 30 year olds. That is a blast.
may not be how the 30 year olds portray it, but I'll take your side.
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Don't be shy with those Minor League Baseball photos, CIncy.
Myself, I played a year of JV Soccer before assuming my rightful position as a spectator in the grandstands.
soccer wasn't a sport in the 70s
what year did Pele wake up the USA?
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Was a 4th string bean pole my senior year in HS.
Had a great body strength index, because I was strong enough to match my 6'0" 140lbs frame in weights.
Played FS.
Chapin was a 2A school full of coaches kids', so playing time against my friends didn't happen. Loved the game, understood it well, and still learn today.
First game we played Lugoff-Elgin, were winning big, so I got to play much of the 4th quarter.
First play, they threw a deep pass my direction, and I caught it over the shoulder for an INT.
Coaches blasted me for saying I got beat, but I was only playing the ball in the air.
I was more suited for basketball, and was a good passer, shooter, and loved getting rebounds as I usually seemed to float in the air while getting them. Very good defender because I had great hand to eye coordination.
However, I never tried for the HS team, because all my friends, small school of coaches kids, were already on the team.
I played a lot if rec league.
Today, I'm 6'3" 215 lbs at 40 yrs, and lost most of that athleticism, so I'm bitter about the spurt I had while in the Navy, but I'm doing alright for myself I guess.
Wish I had these measurables back in HS, but whatever.
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soccer wasn't a sport in the 70s
what year did Pele wake up the USA?
Must've been the '80s, 'cause it was a pretty common sport by the 90s.
My brother played Hoops and Lacrosse. His basketball coach was Randy Ayers's brother, who looked just like him.
There were only 5 lacrosse teams in central Ohio back then. Dublin, Hilliard, Worthington, Upper Arlington and Wellington. Now there's like 30+.
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I can recall the soccer team at our HS coming in from practice as we were dressing for basketball. They would all be covered in mud. This would be circa 1971. I had no clue what soccer was at the time other than being muddy. They all seemed to be having a great time. They were not the good athletes in school though.
I think they actually started soccer before that in Europe or Argentina or somewhere, probably circa 1960, but it never caught on ... football is king in most countries today. They even have a very large church in Paris where they congregate to watch Notre Dame play.
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Wasn't much of an athlete. Played as many sports as I could until about 9th grade when I could not make the cut for basketball, baseball, or JV football at my 5A Texas High School. Stuck with Cross Country and long distance Track so on paper I could appear physically fit for applying to the Naval Academy. By Junior year I quit all sports; my military academy hopes fizzled out when I was diagnosed with a debilitating/sometimes fatal immune disorder. But my dear Mom wanted a second opinion so we flew to the St Louis Children's Hospital and wouldn't you know, the Endocrinologists didn't find anything and cleared me. I didn't go back to sports and by then my medical situation delayed things too much for applying to the academies. Fast forward about 12 years post high school graduation and I have a good job where I just so happen to work with a lot of Navy Officers. God knew better than my plans because I am very grateful to be mostly left to my design projects as opposed to the high pressure, competitiveness, stress, work place politics and the answering to big egos that I witness my Navy Officer colleagues enduring on a daily basis.
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Heh, already touched in this in the other thread, which may have prompted this one.
Yes sir.
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still no soccer program at my high school
heck, didn't have football until 1974
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(https://www.cfb51.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.liveauctiongroup.net%2Fi%2F26482%2F23633697_3.jpg%3Fv%3D8D3001D9D276C30&hash=1eb614e59dca13a1efc83fa5f13d5cce)
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(https://i.imgflip.com/1x8z00.jpg)
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soccer wasn't a sport in the 70s
what year did Pele wake up the USA?
High School I went to won a State soccer title in '77.Then again a few years later,runner up a couple of times.Didn't Pele play in the mid '70's for the New York Cosmos or sum such?I played CB & Wingback in HS.Beginning of our SR season a buddy, 2 chicks & I got caught by Rangers partying.We were in this woods in a metro park area.He had some hippy lettuce and I a couple of Tall Boys.We got in trouble,didn't get laid and got tossed off the football team :wtf: Should have played base ball that's 3 strikes right there
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I lettered in golf a couple seasons, and was the only Sr. With four much better teammates as Fr or So. I kept them in line even though they were the ones shooting 37s.
I was a TE, on a fball team that maybe passed 8 times a game. My only plus skill was as a long snapper in football. We actually had a killer punt team. All conference punter easy. I am proud to say I never had a bad snap in 4 years. I thought about playing if I attended a DIII school, as at 6ft 1 and 145lbs, that wasn't going to get it done as a walk on at N. Back then it wasn't hard to get a walk on try out. I still have my letter from then asst.coach Solich.
True story, I attended a N football camp before my sr.year and that's when you realize how pedestrian your athleticism is compared to actual DI athletes. You do all the same tests and drills and earn a score and you can compare it to the actual players. It's sobering. A young Ahman Green among others was at that camp.
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Marq, that reminds me, I did the same thing at UF. Went to a camp thing - I don't think it was like the ones they do now, where it's all top-level guys, but there were definitely some of those guys mixed in back when I went.
I was no prospect at all, but was technically very good - great fundamentally and all that. I did all the drills well, did them correctly, but then you see this guy or that guy and you just think, "oh, so that's what a D-1 guy with offers is like." And it's not even close - they're just on this other plane of size and ability.
Some of my teammates were amazing, especially on defense. We had like 6 shutouts my SR year and a few of those guys were truly amazing players. I think only one of them maybe played for a season at Valdosta St, something like that. It's crazy - the baseline talent, even at places like a Kentucky or a Purdue is actually so high when compared to the rest of us.
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Marq, that reminds me, I did the same thing at UF. Went to a camp thing - I don't think it was like the ones they do now, where it's all top-level guys, but there were definitely some of those guys mixed in back when I went.
I was no prospect at all, but was technically very good - great fundamentally and all that. I did all the drills well, did them correctly, but then you see this guy or that guy and you just think, "oh, so that's what a D-1 guy with offers is like." And it's not even close - they're just on this other plane of size and ability.
Some of my teammates were amazing, especially on defense. We had like 6 shutouts my SR year and a few of those guys were truly amazing players. I think only one of them maybe played for a season at Valdosta St, something like that. It's crazy - the baseline talent, even at places like a Kentucky or a Purdue is actually so high when compared to the rest of us.
It is amazing and yet, I believe that it is a relatively recent phenomenon. I've mentioned this on here before, but I have watched a DVD of Ohio State's #1 vs #2 win over OJ Simpson's USC team in the 1969 Rosebowl (1968 season). The thing that amazed me the most when watching was that, for the most part, the players were normal sized people. Back then they had ~200lb linemen, linebackers shorter than me (I'm 6-2), etc.
Skill and speed/size are two different things. I'm sure those late 60's players had plenty of skill but if they were transported through time and had to face off against a modern team they'd get spanked. Those teams were #1 and #2, defending NC and about to be NC PAC and BigTen Champs and yet if they played Valdosta State tomorrow I'd put my money on Valdosta simply because, even without looking, I'm sure that Valdosta is bigger and faster at every position.
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As for me, I was an all-conference lawnmower, LoL. I started a mowing business when I was 8 and by the time I was in HS I was mowing 50+ lawns a week. I loved football and looking back I wish I had played. I don't think I'd have been great but I'd have a better understanding of the game if I had the experience of playing it, but I don't. I considered myself to be too busy.
Looking back I was "richer" then than at any point since in my life. By my Senior year I was mowing around 75 lawns and probably making around $20k. That may not sound like much but when you are in HS, living with parents, and eating parent's food, etc it is a LOT.
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hah, I was a stand out mower as well in Jr high and high school. 20 lawns in a town of 350, plus the city park
first lawn I mowed for $$ back in the early 70s as maybe 9-10 years old paid $3.25
instead of football my senior season I had a job as a pump jockey at a gas station - great job
started in 1980 as a junior - gas was $1.17/gal
folks were outraged! saw bullet holes in the tank trucks that delivered gas to the station - employees were warned about possible terrorist actions
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Wow . The good old days lol. Had hair and metabolism back then.
Played at a class A (back then was only 4 classes, A for big schools then B,C, and D).
Started as the left corner on varsity as a junior ( all QBs were right handed). Was pretty skinny at 6’1 170 ( now 6’3 240) but was fast and had good hands. I believe my record for picks in one season still stands nearly 40 years later.
Also started on varsity b-ball, but not because I was particularly good, more because I hustled my ass off on D and could shoot from the outside.
Did a lot of intramural and rec league playing after that, and youth football coaching.
Schemes were fairly simple then. Defense was typically 5-3 or 5-2-4 depending on the team and situation.
Now just an armchair QB who loves to learn what they are doing scheme wise.
That’s why I like CFB so much....so many different schemes and philosophies.
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Those teams were #1 and #2, defending NC and about to be NC PAC and BigTen Champs and yet if they played Valdosta State tomorrow I'd put my money on Valdosta simply because, even without looking, I'm sure that Valdosta is bigger and faster at every position.
I get your point but guys like Tatum,Stillwagon,Simpson give me pause to ponder.Simpson or Tatum could play in any era regardless of the P.O.S.'s they apparently were
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Looking back I was "richer" then than at any point since in my life. By my Senior year I was mowing around 75 lawns and probably making around $20k. That may not sound like much but when you are in HS, living with parents, and eating parent's food, etc it is a LOT.
Good God man you have to be shyting me.Did you have a mower deck rigged to an F-150?That's some serious hustle right there.Thats a lot of coin also considering you made it yourself and wasn't daddy's allowance.Prolly could have pulled it off myself if it wasn't for sports or other teen age pursuits
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I could have been mowin 50 lawns in the small town, but I had two friends that were competing
I was busy enough with 20, especially when rain/weather caused things to back up
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I enjoyed soccer and football more, but tennis was my best sport, so I stuck with that.
Problem was my HS was loaded. The way the MI state tourney worked was you took your four singles and four doubles teams. 12 man roster. State tourney was then 8 tourneys when each of your singles and doubles team competing individually. Then you got points as a team based on how you did in each one. Both my junior and senior years, not only did we win states, we won all 8 tourneys both years. So I was an alternate, and sometimes rotated in. When we'd scrimmage literally any other school, I was good enough to be top 2 anywhere else. I wasn't top 12 at my school. Still, we were so loaded, we had plenty of scouts always on hand. I had a lot of D3 interest, most seriously from Wabash College in Indiana, who actually recruited me pretty relentlessly. I had zero desire to go to a small school, so it was a non-starter.
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Good God man you have to be shyting me.Did you have a mower deck rigged to an F-150?That's some serious hustle right there.Thats a lot of coin also considering you made it yourself and wasn't daddy's allowance.Prolly could have pulled it off myself if it wasn't for sports or other teen age pursuits
Not quite on an F150, but I had two of the 4' commercial walk-behind mowers. I sometimes hired friends. With that mower I can do a standard city lot (with trimming, and clearing grass clippings off the walks and drive with the backpack blower) in under half an hour.
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Still, we were so loaded, we had plenty of scouts always on hand. I had a lot of D3 interest, most seriously from Wabash College in Indiana, who actually recruited me pretty relentlessly. I had zero desire to go to a small school, so it was a non-starter.
Wabash is an all boys school, no?
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Went to high school in the late '60's, early 70's (graduated in 1973) in small town South Dakota where girls sports were pretty much non-existent. I ran track the first year it was offered in Belle Fourche as a freshman then moved to Mobridge, where track was not offered until my junior year. At that time I was 5'6" and didn't hit 100 lbs until late freshman year. I ran the 50 and 100 yard dashes, and was the third leg of the 440 relay team. At one meet, I ran the 440 and swore I would never run any kind of distance race ever again. Never won a single time, but had fun anyway. Broke my little toe running barefoot up and down the bleachers between events my last year and that was the most exciting thing to happen to me, lol.
I did play pick up basketball, baseball, and football with all the neighborhood kids in the clover field across the alley from our home in Winner. I guess I was the biggest tomboy around, ha ha.
Since girl's sports were never really a big thing, I stuck with being in band and playing at all the football and basketball games where it was much safer for my scrawny behind, lol.
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Wabash is an all boys school, no?
Correct. It couldn't have checked fewer boxes in what I was looking for in a college.
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I started High School back in '89 at 4'11" and 97 lbs. Senior Year I was 5'10" and 120.
And I ran, ran like I stole something.
I letter 3 years in Cross Country. I missed my Junior year with Spinal Meningitis, doctor had me tell the CC coach I shouldn't run, so I joined the JV Soccer team.
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Never even bothered to tryout for any competitive organized sports growing up. I knew I was always too short, slow, small, and/or unskilled..... However, band was my main extracurricular activity growing up, and then I was in the Michigan Marching Band for 3 years (to be sure, the pre-game drill requires you to be in very good shape, which is why the MMB has at least 100 extra members more than they need for it, and I only ended up performing in pre-game once along with a few half time shows). In college, I discovered how awesome broomball is, though, and I continue to play that and floor hockey recreationally as a 2nd line defender, which is more about hustle and knowing where to be than skill.
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I started High School back in '89 at 4'11" and 97 lbs. Senior Year I was 5'10" and 120.
I just can't fathom that... In 7th grade I wrestled in the 135# weight class, and I was probably almost pushing 6' by that point. I think I maintained that weight to qualify for football in 8th grade, because IIRC there was a 135# limit at the time. I don't know exactly what I was starting HS, but at the end of my soph year I remember I was about 6'3" or 6'4" and 185#, and then filled out to 225# by the end of senior year.
I didn't mind coming into my HS as a freshman and already being taller than most of the seniors lol...
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The weights that I know of are 100 lbs in 5th grade (first year of football @ Jax Beach) and then 220 as a FR in HS. I was so weak as a FR, but gaines strength pretty quickly. I wasn't flabby fat, just an all-around chubby kid. I wound up simiarly built as Ron Dayne, but played on the OL.
I played in 5th grade, middle school, and HS - 8 years altogether.
I remember moving in 8th grade from Jacksonville to Gainesville and being flabbergasted that they didn't have football at my new school. I was happy we moved, though, as my parents were going to make me attend a prep HS in Jax with no football (at the time). We ended up moving into the only HS I had heard of in Gainvesille. Worked out okay.
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The weights that I know of are 100 lbs in 5th grade (first year of football @ Jax Beach) and then 220 as a FR in HS. I was so weak as a FR, but gaines strength pretty quickly. I wasn't flabby fat, just an all-around chubby kid. I wound up simiarly built as Ron Dayne, but played on the OL.
I actually credit my size as one of the things that turned me OFF to football.
Our league in the Chicago suburbs was age *and* weight based. I started playing in 3rd grade in the 85# weight division, and was playing against 5th graders. And I have July birthday, so I was also consistently one of the youngest kids even in my own grade. There was NO way that my muscles were developed enough to compete with kids who were 2-3 years older than me. Heck, we even had a 1st grader on that team. I don't care how much you weigh, a 6 year old ain't going to do anything against a 10 year old.
I know the rules are there to keep things fair -- you don't want an 85-lb 3rd grader flattening a bunch of 60-lb third graders. But having the weight classes at the same time made things unfair to those of us who were big. An 85-lb 3rd grader just isn't competitive against an 85-lb 5th grader.
So it might be counterintuitive, but it was my size that stopped me from playing, as I wasn't competitive. Had I stuck with it to the ages where my size would have been an advantage, it might have been different, but I had already moved on.
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In northern Ft Worth I played football 8th-10th grade. Started off as a DE but seemingly out of nowhere coach moved me to LT my sophomore year, at 6'1" (still same height, reached my peak early I guess) and 160 lbs. Surprisingly I actually started at LT on the JV team. I was both the tallest guy on our OL and the lightest but I was also the quickest on my feet so I could pass block pretty good, and we were a one back pass-first team (the Todd Dodge specialty, he was our varsity coach at the time). We did pretty good for a JV team, went 8-2.
Anyways going into my junior I was the exact same size while all my teammates kept growing so I decided to quit football and did wrestling and cross country. I was simply ok at both, not elite but not terrible and I did end up lettering in both sports junior year.
My HS football team, btw, did end up losing in the 5A (biggest classification at the time) Div II semifinals to the eventual state champs. Despite being one of the better teams in Texas in 2001 we only had 3 D1 athletes and none at a major school (Army, TCU, and Tulsa). Probably woulda had a 4th but our LT was a dummy who barely passed HS and went the JC route, where he dropped out and quit.
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I actually credit my size as one of the things that turned me OFF to football.
Our league in the Chicago suburbs was age *and* weight based. I started playing in 3rd grade in the 85# weight division, and was playing against 5th graders. And I have July birthday, so I was also consistently one of the youngest kids even in my own grade. There was NO way that my muscles were developed enough to compete with kids who were 2-3 years older than me. Heck, we even had a 1st grader on that team. I don't care how much you weigh, a 6 year old ain't going to do anything against a 10 year old.
I know the rules are there to keep things fair -- you don't want an 85-lb 3rd grader flattening a bunch of 60-lb third graders. But having the weight classes at the same time made things unfair to those of us who were big. An 85-lb 3rd grader just isn't competitive against an 85-lb 5th grader.
stupid rule
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Played one season of high school tennis. I was pretty good, but not great, but my high school team was -- it won the state championship every year I was in high school (and at least one more year consecutively), so I was assigned something like the #6 doubles team. That doesn't get you invited to tournaments, or even to travel with the team because only one other school we played had that many doubles teams, so I only played one match the entire season. That wasn't enough to keep me coming back (and, as the consecutive state titles proved, I wasn't going to be moving up the depth chart).
Started playing recreational hockey when I was 14, so I was way behind people who had played since they were little, and we didn't have the funds or time for me to join a travelling squad, even if I was good enough (I was a pretty good goalie by the time I was 16 or 17).
I'm basically a pretty good recreational athlete: not big enough, strong enough, or coordinated enough to be anything special in any sport, but I have decent size and play with a lot of effort and a little coordination. In the adult world, I'm generally one of the better athletes at every sport I play, but never one of the best. I wish I could have sports seasons like my kids play in, where I could play soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, baseball (or softball) in the spring, tennis in the summer, and hockey year round, but that's not the way life seems to work out.
Funny, about the only sport I'm not interested in is cyling (as in racing). I love to ride my bike and put a lot of miles on it, but I can't imagine wanting to join a bunch of amateurs in a peloton. That sounds insane.
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It sounds as if most of us were on the small side to be a good athlete but made up for that by being slow.
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It sounds as if most of us were on the small side to be a good athlete but made up for that by being slow.
Ed Zachery, in my case
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Well I'm an idiot - thinking football fans = football players. This is neat.
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football fans wish they were players, but the vast majority of us just weren't blessed with the physical attributes
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I played baseball in HS and D3, branch campus of Penn State.
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I started High School back in '89 at 4'11" and 97 lbs. Senior Year I was 5'10" and 120.
And I ran, ran like I stole something.
I letter 3 years in Cross Country. I missed my Junior year with Spinal Meningitis, doctor had me tell the CC coach I shouldn't run, so I joined the JV Soccer team.
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i was recruited as a baseball player... i thought i was good, until i arrived a permanent duty station with three legit minor league and one college player... was first base as long as i can recall- being a lefty helped... anyway, i could hold my own with them as a batter, but fielding? ... uh... i dabbled as a catcher here and there growing up, never in a game- mostly as an assist with pitchers needing a work out- and caught for some that excelled in leagues i played in... i'll say it straight- those Marines w/ no shit harball backgrounds threw those plays to first (me) harder than any pitcher ever has... they could turn the infield quicker than anything i'd ever seen outside of paid players... i realized then and there joining the Corps instead of pursuing either baseball or football was a good decision.
one of those guys, from Colorado, made it all the way to CWO5 and was a true Marine Corps Gunner- he very recently retired. Another, from Pennsylvania, got out and figured the Army Reserve would help him pay for school- he was recruited for what was then still known as Delta, and globe-trotted from one hot spot to another before going straight black- we've heard rumors but don't know where he's at for sure. The other one finished his tour and went back to NH and played the remainder of his eligibility as a catcher... he was a tough dude who let a gal decide his career which ended up being a mistake- but he has a much better one now and a beautiful family and home to go along with her. the other fella had a hummer roll over him while he was in the turret and on the M2, and without the barrel of that thing jamming through the mud and hitting something substantial down there keeping it from crushing him completely, he'd not be here anymore- as it is he's been wheelchair bound since. he was a helluvan athlete prior, and after many tough years coming to terms with that chair (he's tougher than me, i'd have eaten lead i'm almost certain) he's done damn well for himself- recently retiring from an awesome job i'm not going to name, and snowbirding in a beautiful home on the water in florida. those guys were athletes one and all.
i played inside LB in a 52, which is still my favorite D scheme, though it's useless in today's game. folks ran a lot more then. when i wasn't ILB, i'd play DE and RG. I got to punt some too... an abrupt and dramatic change in my world led me from FB my Soph year, and i tried to play my Jr year but it conflicted with what i had to do... the USMC was my way out, and i was sitting in PI less than a week from walking the stage with my classmates.
it's gonna sound like bragging and i really don't want it to- but up until the last ten years physical abilities came easy- i managed to make the cut into an elite group, and then another above that one. most of that is attitude and physical ability- the thought process being you can mold a person's attitude if they have the foundation, and if they naturally have the ability to pass the physical cuts, you can further beat/smash/willfully create what you need out of them. I had excelled in every place i'd ever been until i ran into the men of the second unit (same unit with the baseball players)- and there? I struggled... mightily... but i made it for a long time, until my body straight up said EFF YOU- now i have two blown knees- one more serious than the other with a missing MCL.. two blown shoulders.. broke my back in '96 and never came back to 100%... had a compound dislocation (i didn't even know such a thing existed prior) where i snapped my fibula and the tibia came right out the inside of my ankle -while still in shock i reset it- watched a blob of sand go back in with it, and thought i could tape it w/90mph tape and continue... not a good plan.. the surgeon spent nine hours on that leg, said the tendons and ligaments were like a ball of wire... being more stupid and afraid to miss something, i was back on the rotation in five weeks- but likely only because the doc said i was most likely done.. i had to prove him wrong, and though it was a minor victory then only i truly enjoyed, it's one of those things that's cumbersome now.
after the corps and PDC'ing, (well, during private defense contracting too) i picked up mountain biking, which gave me cheap thrills and rare impacts (only when i bit off more than i could chew, anyway), but i only tried to play football once more- a guy in the grocery store stopped me and asked if i played- said they were recruiting for a local semi-pro league... i showed up for a practice sans pads, at my old position of ILB, and the RB gave me instant recollection as to why i didn't play football, basketball, baseball tennis racketball handball or any kind of ball anymore--- my knees gave... i could run for miles without a whimper in a straight line, but the first time i have to plant/pivot/burst? these damn knees plop right out and i look like a fawn deer for a few days. so... that is that. damn it.
one of my regrets is not playing through HS. i had all of it going for me i needed except for circumstances i really couldn't control, but learned later after gaining some mental toughness that i damn sure could have- it just would have been a little more difficult than my teammates is all... but i didn't... can't go back, right?
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A 4:42 mile is insane, well done.
i was stationed with a dude from new mexico in the early/mid nineties... off some reservation there.. was a running fool... ran three miles in mid to high 13 minutes... it was world class by my reckoning, so you can imagine my broken jaw hitting the terra to learn it wasn't even a regimental record much less a Marine Corps record... seriously.. how does somebody do that? that's all he could do though.. he was weak otherwise.
another dude from beaver creek ohio was stout as a brick shit house- he could bench twice his weight for eight reps- straight up impressive, no? and the fool could run too.. he cut low to mid 15 minute three miles regularly.. he only broke 16 after a hard night drinking (which i may or may not have witnessed... often)...
running has always been my weakness.. i could turn six miles in just under 40 minutes, but the fastest i've ever ran three miles is 18:32. no matter how hard i tried and using every strategy in the book (mine or anyone else's) i could never cross shy of that.
there was another dude in my unit who could run under 16... i swear this is truth: by the time i'd cross the line, he'd have at least two smoldering cigarettes on the ground beneath him and one in his hand.. he smoked camel wides... cracked me the hell up.
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I played baseball into my 40s here in Cincy in the MSBL group. You had to be over 30 and out of pro ball for at least a year. Most of the players were about like me, HS players, and it was fun. We had one guy on our team who had played for the Expos as a pitcher and we used him as a closer because his arm was hurt a lot. So, usually I got to warm him up.
In the first place, he threw a legit 90 fastball, which is scary enough, but his slider for me was almost uncatchable even knowing it was coming. There is a reason catchers give signals. When you can throw that hard, even a bit of spin on the ball makes it move like crazy, and his slider would come in and just flat drop like crazy. And, he was a lefty.
There was no way I could have hit him, never tried, I could barely catch him. It really took all my attention to catch. We had another pitcher who had made it to AA ball and realized he wasn't going to make it and dropped out.
We had 8 teams in the league, and a group went to the "MSBL World Series" in Phoenix one spring. They had 365 teams there competing at 3 levels. We played in a few other tourneys, one on Columbus on "astroturf" which was neat. We played a team sponsored by a radio station. Nice guys, they had all been AAA players. That park in C-bus had 340 down the lines and 430 to center and I figured nobody would launch one there, but that team hit about 4 HRs off us. They were using their worst pitcher who I think was tanking it so we could hit a bit. They knew they would drill us easily and were nice about it.
I was playing first base and can recall one HR they hit that almost gave me whiplash it left the park so fast. I was glad he didn't hit it down the line at me. The bat speed they develop is unbelievable.
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i was stationed with a dude from new mexico in the early/mid nineties... off some reservation there.. was a running fool... ran three miles in mid to high 13 minutes... it was world class by my reckoning, so you can imagine my broken jaw hitting the terra
The kids at Hopi HS up on the AZ reservation seem to win all the long-distance running here. It's the elevation - the rest of the state is around 1,000' or so, but the Rez is 6500-7500'.
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The kids at Hopi HS up on the AZ reservation seem to win all the long-distance running here. It's the elevation - the rest of the state is around 1,000' or so, but the Rez is 6500-7500'.
this guy got pardon (leave) to run the Badwater so long as he wore issued shorts and a USMC tshirt they'd provide him with. his endurance was insane. though he could run a mile under four minutes and six under thirty, his real talent was evident in 10+ miles. it was insane.
he was my squad leader for a short period. he took the team on monday morning and gave us good news/bad news- bad being we were going to run 10 miles that morning, good being we wouldn't run it tuesday if everyone made it without falling out. friday morning, half the squad missing due to twisted knees, shin splints, ect, and after four ten mile mornings we decided 'eff him, let it be him that splits the group' and near the end of the run let him go- just to fall out monday and turn ten more.... by that wednesday the team commander returned from his training and discovered 3/4 the squad was on light duty, and this twit promptly lost his job as squad leader and was set to work in the rope locker never to come out again the rest of the time he was there...
edited: i was just re-reading through this while waiting for some reports to come in, and caught my mistake: this guy DIDN'T run sub-4 minutes... he ran mid fours. my fingers get ahead of my editing skills sometimes.
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I started playing football in the 9th grade while living in Columbus. Back then, freshmen attended the Jr. Hi school and Jr. Hi's didn't field football teams but there were local club teams you could play with. I only played because some other kids goated me into it. I knew nothing about the game other than seeing Ohio State on TV a couple of times a year, but I had no understanding of the game. I barely knew the difference between offense and defense. However, I played and learned a lot that year and fell in love with the game. As I was a decent size kid in 9th grade and was pretty fast, I got to see the field quite a bit.
I played JV my sophomore year in Columbus before our family moved north and I started attending a small school. By my Junior year, I was 6' 2" and about 190 lbs. I then started as a D End and Tight End at my new school. I broke all of the schools records for tackles from my D End position my senior year and learned to somewhat enjoy playing tight end in a run heavy offense. I also ran track my junior and senior years.
Our Geometry teacher was the new track coach and in class one day before track season, he was trying to get kids to come out for track. I jokingly said I would come out for track and pole vault. One of my friends retorted that I would break my neck as I wasn't coordinated enough to pole vault. So I went out and tried pole vault just to prove him wrong.
I should have listened to him. After breaking 3 poles, I was at our conference meet and attempting to clear 11 or 12 feet. I really don't remember, but I do remember seeing the standard fall just before I hit the ground, just missing the mat and landing on my back on the concrete. That put me out of action for a couple of weeks. But as I was pretty fast, I did well in the running events. My senior year, our coach put me in the 440 yd dash. Back then, most people in our league just used a standing start similar to a distance event. However, in this meet, this guy in the lane next to me is getting into starting blocks. I remember saying "Dude, this isn't a sprint". I was wrong. I ran a decent time in the 440 (mid 50's), but he beat me by 50 yds. I later learned that he was a 3 time state champ in that event.
I went on to play football at a DII school and started at OLB in a 3-4 scheme as a freshman. My sophomore year in college, I actually played almost every position on defense as a non starter. I equate it to a 6th man in basketball. I played the 5 tech tackle, OLB, ILB, strong side corner and strong safety. By then I was 6' 2" and about 220 lbs. I ran a 4.5 40 and a sub 5:00 mile and held the team record in the shuttle hurdle. By weight room standards, I wasn't the strongest guy around as I had never lifted weights in HS (we didn't have any). I could only bench about 350 lbs which was pretty average for a guy my size. But I was just good at football, so I was on the field a lot.
My senior year in college, I moved to the starting strong safety and had a blast. I got to call the coverage's based on the defense called and the offensive alignment. Needless to say, there were a lot of strong safety blitzes. By then I was up to about 225 lbs and could run like a deer. It was funny to listen to the opposing receivers licking their chops during the first few series thinking that they were going to have a field day if I was in man coverage on them. They found out that it wasn't that easy as I could generally keep them from releasing on the line to run their routes. And if they did get free, I was right there with them.
But like anything else, life catches up. I'm now 54 years old, over weight, 2 knee replacements and 5 years removed from barely surviving phenomena and being on life support for 3 weeks. Now my athletic activities are confined to golf and the occasional bike ride. I did officiate HS football for 25 years and helped coach all grade school levels from 5th and 6th grade to HS. But now, I just enjoy going and watching the local HS games and watching college football on fall Saturdays.
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I played baseball and football up until HS. I was never really good at baseball, but was a pretty fearless DE on my championship pee wee football team started every year I played. However when I went into the ninth grade my mom refused to sign the permission slip for me to play football. She said I was too small. I ended up wrestling at 98, 105, 112 & 119 in HS. Hard to believe I weight over 200lb today, I didn't grow until I got out of high School. I wasn't very good at wrestling was basically a punching bag for our two state champs at my weight classes. I ran distance on the track team my freshman year, but not found the love for running.
Today (at 57), I stay active in sports by officiating High School football and wrestling.
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My senior year in college, I moved to the starting strong safety and had a blast. I got to call the coverage's based on the defense called and the offensive alignment. Needless to say, there were a lot of strong safety blitzes. By then I was up to about 225 lbs and could run like a deer. It was funny to listen to the opposing receivers licking their chops during the first few series thinking that they were going to have a field day if I was in man coverage on them. They found out that it wasn't that easy as I could generally keep them from releasing on the line to run their routes. And if they did get free, I was right there with them.
yo, Afro
you found a player
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I played baseball into my 40s here in Cincy in the MSBL group. You had to be over 30 and out of pro ball for at least a year. Most of the players were about like me, HS players, and it was fun. We had one guy on our team who had played for the Expos as a pitcher and we used him as a closer because his arm was hurt a lot. So, usually I got to warm him up.
In the first place, he threw a legit 90 fastball, which is scary enough, but his slider for me was almost uncatchable even knowing it was coming. There is a reason catchers give signals. When you can throw that hard, even a bit of spin on the ball makes it move like crazy, and his slider would come in and just flat drop like crazy. And, he was a lefty.
There was no way I could have hit him, never tried, I could barely catch him. It really took all my attention to catch. We had another pitcher who had made it to AA ball and realized he wasn't going to make it and dropped out.
We had 8 teams in the league, and a group went to the "MSBL World Series" in Phoenix one spring. They had 365 teams there competing at 3 levels. We played in a few other tourneys, one on Columbus on "astroturf" which was neat. We played a team sponsored by a radio station. Nice guys, they had all been AAA players. That park in C-bus had 340 down the lines and 430 to center and I figured nobody would launch one there, but that team hit about 4 HRs off us. They were using their worst pitcher who I think was tanking it so we could hit a bit. They knew they would drill us easily and were nice about it.
I was playing first base and can recall one HR they hit that almost gave me whiplash it left the park so fast. I was glad he didn't hit it down the line at me. The bat speed they develop is unbelievable.
I was never a good ballplayer, honestly. I was dumb enough to catch for 15 years and put my heart and soul into it and made a career of it. I felt I had good command of the game, like a QB would, and called a good game behind the plate, decent arm (<2.1 to second). That and the ability to block and read pitchers is how I got into low level college ball. I couldn't hit water if I fell out of a boat, but I think I was tough behind.
I ended up playing in some summer and fall showcase leagues with some guys who got drafted and played decently high level college (think SoCon and Big South level). Catching was and will remain the funnest thing I've ever done in my life, I mean that. I always say if I could go back in my old age (38) and do one thing, it'd be to catch 9 again and I'd appreciate it more than I did.
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Well I'm an idiot - thinking football fans = football players. This is neat.
I was never a football player. In 1st grade I was the smallest kind in my class, and got accepted to an advanced traditional school, where they placed me into 3rd grade (skipping 2nd. ie now comically small for my class.) Now in 3rd grade the boys played "Smear the No Longer Politically Correct Word." I played twice. I was quick enough to avoid most tackles, and able to catch the ball. But, both games ended with me getting corralled by several kids, picked up, body slammed, head bouncing off the asphalt, and tears. I did not want to play this tackling game (football) any more.
Dad tried to get me to like football, and he was a huge sports fan of the Cincinnati Teams. The Bengals and Reds were bad, so my dad added an explicative into their name; I'll substitute "Puck". The "Cinci-puck-nati" Reds lost again. The "Cinci-puck-nati" Bengals are a clown show. Still in 3rd grade for me, class was doing Ohio Geography, and with all the bravado, and innocence I could muster, I raised my hand and boldly asked "Where is Cinci-puck-nati? To the principal's office I went, and dad got called in with some 'splaining to do.
And yet another growing up story about Football: My dad figured out that he could go to OSU games for free if he was an Usher. In the 80ies the Ushers were Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, but the waitlist for the Boy Scouts was almost 20 years long. So he signed us up for the Girl Scouts. We paid our annual dues, never went to a meeting or campout, and wore the boy version of their uniforms. For 3 years I got to go to every OSU home game with dad. I remember being in the south stands (while still aluminum bleachers) for the 1985 Iowa game; When OSU blocked the punt the stands were shaking so violently that I guess I got scared and started crying. Dad took me and the other girl scout ushers to the "Shoe" part of the stadiu, bought us all Hot Chocolate and we "watched" the rest of the game safe from the rain in one of the entrance ramps.
I didn't really like football until High School and was encouraged to be a screaming energetic fan from the confines of the marching band.
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I was always a sports kid/sports nerd combo. When I was 12-17 years old, I could name every starting player on every team in the 3 major sports, easily. But of my group of friends who played some sport outside every day, I was the only one who's parents would let them play.
As much fun as playing 8 years of organized tackle football was, playing pickup football with my friends was just as fun. Partly because I got the ball in my hands and because, thanks to being in shape thanks to that, I was really good, lol. In the fall, I missed playing with my friends due to practice, but it was worth it. Being a backup sucks, because practice sucks - the payoff of the actual game Friday night makes it worthwhile.
We had a shared stadium in Gainesville, among the 3 major HS in the area - we'd get a police escort the whole way, which was cool. Now I just see it as a complete waste of resources, lol. The road games stunk if you traveled far, especially so if you lost. A school bus full of stinky HS guys getting home at 1am - don't miss those.
Being a football nerd definitely helped me play better, though. I picked up the plays quickly and I didn't just know my job, but everyone's job on each play, because it made sense. I grew up watching football, but not just the ball, but how teams blocked and WR route combos that worked and why, etc.
The game is great, concussion issues notwithstanding. It really is microcosm of life, of war, etc.
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I was an undersized football player who worked as hard as anybody. I was 5'8" 140 lbs. as a senior.
In my freshman year I played tailback and offensive guard; and I played some defense maybe even defensive end a little bit, which included some pass defense. Somehow my freshman coach seemed to think I could get in the way with the best of them, and after 6-games he put me in as a starting Guard. I was about 120 lbs. as a freshman, but I hit hard. I had good blocking techniques, and I could pass block. On running plays I was a pulling guard, and it was great fun; I was fairly agile. We had a guy in the freshman backfield who would become 1st team all-state fullback as a senior. He knew how to set up my blocks around the corner. He was good. He made me look good. He became a University of Iowa football player who led the Big Ten in tackles as the Hawkeyes MLB.
If the game were played the way it is today in college, I probably would have walked-on at Iowa and tried out as an undersized fullback because I actually had good blocking technique.
I worked out all the time as a high schooler. As a senior in HS my bench press was 240 lbs.
As a senior in high school I played cornerback and they switched me over to middle guard/linebacker where I was to play as a fill-in player on defense between the 20s. My buddy who ultimately played at Iowa was to pick up the slack at my defensive position in the red zones on defense. He was to rest between the 20s on defense because he was the best fullback/running back in the State of Iowa.
By the time that plan was implemented with me playing between the 20s at middle guard, I injured my back in practice, after the 3rd game of the season. I played very few varsity plays the remainder of the season, spent time in PT and a lot of time in the hot tub. My back was sore until I was about 39. Oddly enough after that its been good.
My buddy who played at Iowa kept on me to walk-on at Iowa. So one spring I did. It was a 1-week experience. The defensive backs coach who went on to coach the Colts in late life in the Super Bowl was the defensive backs coach. At a spring scrimmage open to the public he was exhorting the defensive backs at the top of his lungs to, "Kill! Kill! Kill!" This was about 1976. I thought this is why Iowa football is so bad, and it isn't going to recover. And in my mind I thought this guy is dumber than any high school coach by a longshot that I ever had. And so after the scrimmage -- I just didn't show up again. What I liked about the experience was the camaraderie with players in the defensive backfield. The players seemed mostly to respect me though they didn't know me well. If it hadn't been for that coach I think I might have just been a practice squad dummy the rest of my college days. Another guy from my home town did that and he may have gotten to run down under a kickoff once.
I learned from that brief experience that the difference between HS and D-1 was the speed. And this was Iowa in the mid-70s, not Ohio State or Michigan. I wasn't that fast, and I knew I had to make up for speed even in high school by knowing what the offense was doing, and guessing where the play was going, or anticipating greatly.
At Iowa I competed in weight lifting contests, and set a U of Iowa bench press record for my weight class.
I weighed about 155 lbs. in law school where ultimately I got my bench press up to 270 lbs. while in law school at FSU. At FSU they didn't have the workout facilities for students that were available for no charge to students in Iowa City. In Tallahassee, in the private gym I went to, I overheard guys talking with each other about juices; it wasn't orange juice. I thought about entering weightlifting competitions there, but I saw what they were bench pressing, let alone dead lifting. I could not compete at their level; I wasn't going to consume their juices, either.
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We had a shared stadium in Gainesville . . .
In about 1984 or 85, one of my buddies and I walked onto Florida Field and took a few pictures in the Heisman pose. Or at least I took a pic of him. I don't know if he got me, as it was my camera. It was pretty cool. At that time you could just walk in when it wasn't in-season.
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For 3 years I got to go to every OSU home game with dad. I remember being in the south stands (while still aluminum bleachers) for the 1985 Iowa game; When OSU blocked the punt the stands were shaking so violently that I guess I got scared and started crying. Dad took me and the other girl scout ushers to the "Shoe" part of the stadiu, bought us all Hot Chocolate and we "watched" the rest of the game safe from the rain in one of the entrance ramps.
That was a heartbreaking game. After that disastrous road trip for the Hawkeyes, my brothers and I took a more disastrous road trip to the Rose Bowl in 1985-86, I learned more about disaster than I even knew could occur during that 1985 Ohio State game. We broke down with our party of about 24 in Albuquerque, and I arranged RT flights for everyone to LA from Albuquerque. Upon return to Albuquerque I was so relieved our broken down mass transit vehicle was repaired. The Ohio State game sucked, but the Rose Bowl trip was far more suckier for your information.
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Never played a minute of HS sports. Instead, I found my little niche as the stat guy for football and boys basketball manager. During my sophomore year, I was offered to announce the starting lineups and never relinquished it. Yeah, I was the PA announcer, and that is something that has served me well in the years since.
I got bit with the referee bug in college, and now ref HS basketball and umpire fast pitch softball. I also judge competitive speech, which I didn't think I would enjoy, but I've come around on it.
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In about 1984 or 85, one of my buddies and I walked onto Florida Field and took a few pictures in the Heisman pose. Or at least I took a pic of him. I don't know if he got me, as it was my camera. It was pretty cool. At that time you could just walk in when it wasn't in-season.
You can still do that now, as far as I know. Lots of people run stadium steps in the Swamp.
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Never played a minute of HS sports. Instead, I found my little niche as the stat guy for football and boys basketball manager. During my sophomore year, I was offered to announce the starting lineups and never relinquished it. Yeah, I was the PA announcer, and that is something that has served me well in the years since.
I got bit with the referee bug in college, and now ref HS basketball and umpire fast pitch softball. I also judge competitive speech, which I didn't think I would enjoy, but I've come around on it.
Announcing is fun - I did that instead of coaching my last few years on the Rez.
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I was about 5'10, 185 as a fullback in high school. I never played a down after my sophomore year after injuring my right knee.
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As much fun as playing 8 years of organized tackle football was, playing pickup football with my friends was just as fun.
Man, I just don't understand this generation of kids now. We were ALWAYS playing something - pickup hoops, football, homerun derby, street hockey, you name it. It was always a neighborhood pride thing too - us versus that hood or another. Same group of 8 or so of us. Then once we got into high school, it was one group of friends against another group. Hell we'd have 4-6 team tourneys on Saturdays at different fields around town.
Miss those days, and not real sure kids today know what any of that means. They are all into organized travel ball now at age 7 and 8. Feel bad for them in a way, they never really get to play the game for fun anymore.
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I was about 5'10, 185 as a fullback in high school. I never played a down after my sophomore year after injuring my right knee.
Stocky kid and that stinks. Never know what could have been had you hit your 200+ pound mark as a senior (making an assumption that you would have easily added that weight in 2 years of lifting).
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when i started playing in 6th grade, i was a tall, chunky kid. i played center on offense and either end or lb, depending on my weight at game time (had a weight limit, weigh above x lbs and have to play on line, and i was right at the limit all season).
stayed on line and at lb through 8th grade, changed schools before 9th grade and they put me at qb and safety (had grown taller and thinner). yep, went from center to qb. we were a smaller school (3a - mid size for bama classification then), so i also dressed for 3rd string backup qb for sr team. played in final game of season as both qbs got hurt. new kid, 9th grade (was typically only 10th-12th team), away game vs our rivals, yeah i was nervous, lol.
10th grade i played center again cause the center from prior year graduated and no one else had ever played c. plus had starting qb and backup coming back. also played s/lb on d.
11-12th grade the qb/backup graduated, i moved back to qb and s. we were mostly an option team, but i had some decent offensive #'s both running and passing. nothing major cfb worthy though. i was around 6', 150 lbs those last few years, didn't grow much at all.
we weren't very good (never made state playoffs, and only once went .500 while i played), but i was/am proud of my class of teammates. we went 0-10 my frosh year and progressed to 5-5 my sr year. they continued to progress and regularly make playoffs now. feel like we started that change.
i also long snapped for fg and punts. i got offered a couple of scholarships to snap (and maybe try other positions) at some really small schools (d3), but they were academic scholarships as they couldn't do athletic scholarships (ncaa rule). i chose to go to alabama because of an academic program i got into there.
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Stocky kid and that stinks. Never know what could have been had you hit your 200+ pound mark as a senior (making an assumption that you would have easily added that weight in 2 years of lifting).
I have no regrets. Even if everything broke the right way, I probably would have never gotten any interest outside the D-III ranks.
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Was looking for an older thread and came across this. Good stuff.
I played AAA football in WV, which is the highest classification in our state. By WV HS standards I was a pretty decent football player. At bigger schools in more populated states I would have been a benchwarmer.
As it was, I was a 6’2 225 lb. Guard/Tackle on offense and Tackle/End on defense. I was All Conference and All County my junior and senior seasons and Special Honorable Mention All State my Senior season (“Special” meaning I just missed out on Second Team). I was a captain my Senior year as well.
We were one of the smallest AAA schools in the state and never very successful. We went 9-21 the 3 years I played Varsity. There are several Division II football schools in WV and I was contacted by most of them. The two I was the most serious about were Fairmont State and Concord College (now Concord University). They both offered me a partial scholarship to come play with an opportunity to earn a full scholarship if everything worked out.
Both staffs were fair and honest with me. They told me I probably wouldn’t play much (if at all) my freshman season and then have a better shot at playing time each successive year. Both told me they could see me starting by my junior year. I think my dad detected some hesitancy on my part and sat me down shortly before I had to make a decision and talked to me.
He told me that I had to be mentally prepared to lift all those weights, run all those sprints, slog through all those practices without the prospect of playing at least one, and maybe two, years. I loved football. I still love football, but I didn’t it love it enough to do that. I have tremendous respect for kids who do but my desire to keep playing just wasn’t that strong.
So, I turned down both offers and went to Concord through loans I took out and some grants I qualified for because my parents didn’t have a lot of money. There were times I got the itch to play. One of my old teammates from HS lived beside me and was the Punter for the team. He tried to cajole me on more than one occasion to play but I never did. I let myself get out of shape and just got lazy for a while. I only missed the games anyway. I never missed everything that goes into getting yourself ready to play a game.
So there’s my Al Buddy story!
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Great story, thanks.
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Yeah, practice sucked.
I was ready to stop playing football once HS was over. Having a fall Friday night to do what I wanted was nice as a FR in college. Hell, having time on a fall weekday after school was great - for friends, for girls, for all of it. From 5th grade to 12th grade, I was at football practice every weekday, every fall. Damn.
That's a lot of prime hours there.
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Hmmm, I guess I didn't really enjoy practice, but I never thought of practice being a reason to give up the game
it was lack of playing time that caused me to quit. Just wasn't talented enough to earn snaps
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Announcing is fun - I did that instead of coaching my last few years on the Rez.
I love announcing. If I were independently wealthy I would just volunteer my time to announce high school sports on the radio all the time. I fill in from time to time to do color or play by play for football and basketball for one of our local HS teams. I really enjoy it.
The one bad experience I had was 3 or 4 years ago when I was contacted at the last minute to do a road game about an hour away. When I get there I’m told that neither guy I fill in for was going to make it so I’d be on the mic by myself. If you’ve never done that it is hard when you don’t have someone to talk to and play off of. To make matters worse the game was a nightmare. Our team was terrible and playing the defending state champs. The final score was 77-7 and trust me when I tell you they could have scored 100 points easily. The booth also wasn’t insulated and I wasn’t dressed warmly enough for the weather.
That was truly a miserable night.
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Hmmm, I guess I didn't really enjoy practice, but I never thought of practice being a reason to give up the game
it was lack of playing time that caused me to quit. Just wasn't talented enough to earn snaps
Well, it was the prospect of lack of playing time that caused me to quit too. The games are the payoff. To be honest, I coasted in HS. I mean, I lifted and and participated in off season conditioning but I did the minimum to get by and say I participated. I never went to any camps. I knew I was going to play and so did some other guys on my team. That’s probably one of the reasons we weren’t very good.
I was also a little intimidated after going on a couple of official visits. I walked in the locker room after a game and was looking at guys who were 6’5, 280 lbs. with full beards , tattoos, and covered in chest hair. I had a wisp of a little mustache that a strong gust of wind could have blown off my face. I wasn’t confident I could ever play in college after seeing some of those guys.
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"Back in the day" (I graduated HS in the early 70s), nobody I knew had access to camps or decent coaching or conditioning or training or anything. You went to practice and that was it. A lot of guys played BBall (both types) to "stay in shape".
We did have summer baseball leagues that were less competitive than HS of course, but baseball.
There was no organized basketball. The first real game I played was in the 8th grade.
Our coaches in the main had no technical expertise to provide. We had no trainers and zero help with conditioning advice.
I graduated HS at 6'4" and less than 180 pounds.
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"Back in the day" (I graduated HS in the early 70s), nobody I knew had access to camps or decent coaching or conditioning or training or anything. You went to practice and that was it. A lot of guys played BBall (both types) to "stay in shape".
We did have summer baseball leagues that were less competitive than HS of course, but baseball.
There was no organized basketball. The first real game I played was in the 8th grade.
Our coaches in the main had no technical expertise to provide. We had no trainers and zero help with conditioning advice.
I graduated HS at 6'4" and less than 180 pounds.
Ours wasn’t much more organized than that. We had a weightlifting “class” that our coach was the teacher for. It was basically just for football players. But we’d head down to the stadium and the coach would be in and out as we loafed through our workouts. It was more a social hour than getting anything really productive done.
It was the same thing during the summer leading up to practice starting. Guys would go down and sign their names to the sign in sheet to show they had been there but none of us were really busting our ass to get in shape. Do a couple sets of bench, do some curls, flex in the mirror, BS with each other, talk, run a mile and go home.
At the time I thought I was putting in the work to get better but I can look back now and see what a joke it was. Hardly any supervision from the coaches. They’d just look in from time to time and then either leave or go back to the coaches’ office and hang around.
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This is something that changed radically in Georgia from 1970 to today. Interest increased and then money followed with younger leagues and top notch equipment and camps and whatever. I'm sure Georgia produced some D-1A guys in 1970 but not even close to what the state generates today even adjusted for the population increase from about 4 to 10 million.
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Hmmm, I guess I didn't really enjoy practice, but I never thought of practice being a reason to give up the game
it was lack of playing time that caused me to quit. Just wasn't talented enough to earn snaps
I didn't give up the game because of practice, I graduated HS, wanted to go to UF instead of playing football at North Duval Tech.
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Ours wasn’t much more organized than that. We had a weightlifting “class” that our coach was the teacher for. It was basically just for football players. But we’d head down to the stadium and the coach would be in and out as we loafed through our workouts. It was more a social hour than getting anything really productive done.
It was the same thing during the summer leading up to practice starting. Guys would go down and sign their names to the sign in sheet to show they had been there but none of us were really busting our ass to get in shape. Do a couple sets of bench, do some curls, flex in the mirror, BS with each other, talk, run a mile and go home.
At the time I thought I was putting in the work to get better but I can look back now and see what a joke it was. Hardly any supervision from the coaches. They’d just look in from time to time and then either leave or go back to the coaches’ office and hang around.
Ours was the same, except I didn't have a car and none of my friends played football (initially), so for at least my first summer workout time, I had to ride my bike a couple miles to get there. Worked out - I mostly just worked out what I was impressive at and avoided the things I was weak in, then ran a mile, then biked back home. Looking back, I was both slacking off and impressively engaged, lol.
I went to a couple of UF football camps, but I was decidedly among the half who were just there because we loved football. The other have were legit dudes who were going to get big-time offers. But I always tried hard and did a good job, and it was fun.
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I graduated high school at 6’10”, 200lbs (now 6’10”, 230). I grew from 6’ to 6’6” my 8th grade year. It took a while for my coordination to catch up to that growth. I played on a great small high school basketball team in southern Indiana. The teams we had my junior and senior years had three D1 players, a starter on the 1995 D2 national champions, a D3 All-American, and another 6’6” kid who played some NAIA basketball. We got to the final 8 of the state tournament my senior year and lost to the eventual state champions by two points back when Indiana still had the old one class tournament. Not bad for a high school of just under 250 kids.
I played my first two years of college at Indiana State for two different coaches. I transferred out of that mess to Austin Peay. We had some good teams there. We were OVC co-champs for two years and made it to the dance in 1996. When I graduated I had a couple offers to play in lower level Euro leagues (Denmark and Poland). I was ready to go to Denmark but backed out at the last second. I just wasn’t ready to drop everything and move halfway around the world for what was really not that great of an amount of money. Also, to be completely honest, I was just tired of practice and the mental fatigue that comes with constantly judging your self worth based on your last time on the court. So I moved home, played a ton of 3-on-3 and men’s leagues, and got a teaching job.
Nowadays, at age 42, I rarely play anymore. I can still get up and down the court pretty well and can still dunk and shoot the ball pretty well. I was really a stretch 4 or 5 before that was a thing. I run half and full marathons and watch my kids in their sports. My oldest son is a pretty good player. He’s 6’4” and averaged 25 and 12 as an 8th grader this past season. He plays AAU for an Under Armour sponsored team based in Indy. My daughter is probably my best athlete. She’s one of those kids that’s just good at everything she does. She plays volleyball and basketball and runs track. She’s also a very good self taught gymnast. My youngest is pretty good at legos and Minecraft and that’s just fine.
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I wonder how many fewer strides you take in a marathon than a 6-footer. Hmmph.
I think you got us all beat. The best basketball player at my school ended up at Kansas State and barely played. Seeing as how he barely graduated HS, I'll guess grades did him in.
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Never played a minute of HS sports. Instead, I found my little niche as the stat guy for football and boys basketball manager. During my sophomore year, I was offered to announce the starting lineups and never relinquished it. Yeah, I was the PA announcer, and that is something that has served me well in the years since.
I got bit with the referee bug in college, and now ref HS basketball and umpire fast pitch softball. I also judge competitive speech, which I didn't think I would enjoy, but I've come around on it.
My HS had a teacher that would introduce the starting line ups, and he'd do it as though it was a WWF match.
Today they have an even more over the top version of that guy doing the same thing. They look similar, but it is not the same guy.
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I was a very poor athlete. Didn't play organized sports as a kid. Parents weren't sports people, and they figured I, as a shrimpy, weird kid, would have just hated it. They were right (a friend described his little league experience as wake up early on Saturday, strike out four times, hope the ball never came his way. That woulda been me).
My high school didn't have PE, so I did JV (non-competitive) golf three times, and my last year they offered some kinda of circuit training course. In retrospect, I would've been all over a weight training class, but it was not to be. I could have sat at the end of some JV bench I suppose. I was probably somewhere in the 5-7, 145 range. A teacher saw my licence and said I was in no way the 155 it listed. I think I'm pretty naturally unathletic, as I've never been able to pick up anything and look anything but unnatural trying to do it. Some kids get spotted in the halls by coaches and pressured to play. I had a teacher pushing me to help on a school play because it was a good social experience (I only did it late in HS, something I regret).
Nowadays I'll do pickup basketball if the right game comes along, but my lack of handles/feel for the game leaves me mostly setting illegal screens and trying not to hold the ball. A friend got me into running, and while I'm not fast by any means, I like doing it and don't think much of five-plus miles after work, or going farther on the weekend.
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This is something that changed radically in Georgia from 1970 to today. Interest increased and then money followed with younger leagues and top notch equipment and camps and whatever. I'm sure Georgia produced some D-1A guys in 1970 but not even close to what the state generates today even adjusted for the population increase from about 4 to 10 million.
That isn't just a Georgia thing, it is national:
I've told this story here before but if you haven't heard it, I have a DVD of the 1969 RoseBowl. This was defending National Champion and #2 ranked USC with Heisman Trophy winner OJ Simpson against soon-to-be National Champion and #1 ranked Ohio State so these were top-notch teams. I expected the archaic graphics but what surprised me when I watched was that the players were normal sized people. At least into the late 1960's even the best CFB teams still had 6-0, 200# linemen. Today a guy that size couldn't get on the field unless he could run 4.5 in the forty yard dash.
What I have heard/read is that prior to sometime in the late 60's or maybe early 70's weightlifting just wasn't an athletic thing. Athletes ran and did military style calisthenics but they didn't lift weights. Weight lifters were basically all just vanity cases who wanted to look huge but couldn't tie their own shoes because they had no flexibility. They couldn't actually play any sports because if they tried to run/turn/jump they'd pull a muscle.
Then some trainer figured out that if you combined your weightlifting with the appropriate stretching routine it was possible to become huge while still maintaining sufficient flexibility to play sports at a high level. If you watched a high level bowl game from 1979 I think you'd find that the guys were almost as big as they are now. The change occurred very quickly, in not much more than a decade such that, in my memory, football players have always been giants.
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Yeah, number 65 for Oregon in this 58 Rose Bowl pic was a Tackle.
(https://www.cfb51.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm9.staticflickr.com%2F8055%2F8092361574_ab0ef47cea_o.png&hash=8e9a6b60f161752d9eb15cc506d18195)
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#36 in red looks like Johnny Unitas
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It was Galen Cisco.
He went onto be a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and was an MLB Pitching coach up until the year 2000.
His granddaughter went to my HS, was in my class, and went onto be the Libero for the OSU VB team.
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Heh, I didn't know that was him when I posted the pic, so thanks for making the joke that inspired me to look it up.
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/091098aae.html
Her grandfather, Galen Cisco, Sr., was a two-sport star for OSU. He captained the 1957 national championship football team and was an all-American baseball player. He is a member of the Ohio State Sports Hall of Fame. Cisco, Sr. is the pitching coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.
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I've done my good deed for the day!
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i think it was four Christmas's ago i was in Orlando at Disney, and stood inline for a ride behind three Mizzou players- they were in team colors and there to play a game later that week.. players were all over the park that day.... I was BS'n with these three about games in general while we waited- told them i was a UT fan and they said "man, we're sorry"- i appreciated that actually- ain't nuthin' wrong with a bit of ribbing even with strangers.
I stand 6'3 3/4 and top above 280# depending on how many beers i'm smuggling, and these guys made me tiny- and the kicker- they were only two linebackers and a tight end. they were at least a head taller than me and though i outweighed them most likely, i do so in all the wrong places. none of them started and all of them were underclassmen.
..... and i was one of the bigger kids in my highschool graduating just north of #200 and probably 6'1~2 or so....
i also recall thinking at the time the mizzou players on the field looked smaller than almost all marque SEC players at the time- making up the difference with being more agile and faster... so seeing these guys who are smaller in comparison than even their starting teammates makes me think that it's more than 'just' weight rooms and trainers- it's either these big kids are being found easier in an electronic/television world, or, they're just plain bigger than my generation.
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7' tall 400 lb football players are coming in my lifetime
and I'm old
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When I lived in Atlanta, one of my neighbor's sons was a lineman for Kentucky. I don't think he was a starter [not sure if he was still an underclassman or if he was just not good enough to start].
Like you, I'm a big guy. 6'5" 260#. The kid made me look like a shrimp. Had to have been 6'8" and well over 300#, and looked it.
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7' tall 400 lb football players are coming in my lifetime
and I'm old
Kenny George was 7'9
(https://www.cfb51.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thetallestman.com%2Fimages%2Fkennygeorge%2Fkennygeorge%2520%2811%29.jpg&hash=84b8a27dcfc79b9c13f9c8844598fbc7)
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In HS and when I coached, I hated the huge kids that were lethargic or didn't seem to care. No, you shouldn't be out there if you don't want to - so that could be part of it. But if you're going to be out there, get after it. Have some energy. You could dominate with even average effort!
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Shaq?
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You're thinking of old Shaq. Young Shaq ran the floor, could dribble, etc. Find youtube video of his rookie year in Orlando and be amazed at his waistline.
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That isn't just a Georgia thing, it is national:
I've told this story here before but if you haven't heard it, I have a DVD of the 1969 RoseBowl. This was defending National Champion and #2 ranked USC with Heisman Trophy winner OJ Simpson against soon-to-be National Champion and #1 ranked Ohio State so these were top-notch teams. I expected the archaic graphics but what surprised me when I watched was that the players were normal sized people. At least into the late 1960's even the best CFB teams still had 6-0, 200# linemen. Today a guy that size couldn't get on the field unless he could run 4.5 in the forty yard dash.
What I have heard/read is that prior to sometime in the late 60's or maybe early 70's weightlifting just wasn't an athletic thing. Athletes ran and did military style calisthenics but they didn't lift weights. Weight lifters were basically all just vanity cases who wanted to look huge but couldn't tie their own shoes because they had no flexibility. They couldn't actually play any sports because if they tried to run/turn/jump they'd pull a muscle.
Then some trainer figured out that if you combined your weightlifting with the appropriate stretching routine it was possible to become huge while still maintaining sufficient flexibility to play sports at a high level. If you watched a high level bowl game from 1979 I think you'd find that the guys were almost as big as they are now. The change occurred very quickly, in not much more than a decade such that, in my memory, football players have always been giants.
Back in the early 70's, the BBC did a special on American football and did so by following Ohio State around for a while. During the special, they showed a preseason press conference that Woody gave. During the Q&A portion of the session, some reporter asked a question regarding the size of the offensive line and their ability to move due to their enormous size. After all, they averaged over 225 lbs! How could they possibly move beyond the line of scrimmage.
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Here's what I don't understand about that, though...
I graduated HS at about 6'4" and 225#. I did that without weight training of any kind. I was in great shape, as I was doing martial arts 5-6 days a week as I was preparing for my 2nd degree test my Sr year. But I didn't really do any strength-specific exercises.
So what changed? I mean, I realize that I was probably on the upper end of the bell curve, but you'd think that a bunch of people recruited to play football at Ohio State would all have been even more extremely on the upper end of the curve than I was. Even moderate strength training (not heavy lifting) should have those guys at 250+ lbs easy. Probably not the 6'7" 325# guys you see today, but 250 ain't that big.
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Here's what I don't understand about that, though...
I graduated HS at about 6'4" and 225#. I did that without weight training of any kind. I was in great shape, as I was doing martial arts 5-6 days a week as I was preparing for my 2nd degree test my Sr year. But I didn't really do any strength-specific exercises.
So what changed? I mean, I realize that I was probably on the upper end of the bell curve, but you'd think that a bunch of people recruited to play football at Ohio State would all have been even more extremely on the upper end of the curve than I was. Even moderate strength training (not heavy lifting) should have those guys at 250+ lbs easy. Probably not the 6'7" 325# guys you see today, but 250 ain't that big.
I think part #1 of the answer is that a lot of it is dependent on height. People today are taller for various reasons. Your 225# on a 6-4 frame isn't really huge but 225# on a 6-0 frame is a lot bigger and even more on a 5-10 frame.
Beyond that, I think you almost have to do lifting of some sort to get really big. Military style calisthenics (running, pushups, sit-ups, etc) will burn the fat off, but they aren't going to make you "huge". My best guess, therefore, is that prior to modern stretching/lifting workouts most of those guys were getting to 225# not even through, as you put it "moderate strength training", but just through pushups and running.
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creatine and other supplements have a role